


Cinder-Marinette

by Hoodiedork



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Cinderella AU, F/M, Human Plagg, fairy god mother tikki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 08:25:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8197909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hoodiedork/pseuds/Hoodiedork
Summary: Marinette works for her stepsisters and stepmom at her dad's old bakery, but she has to deal with a lot more than just the baking and doesn't get nearly enough credit. Meanwhile, Prince Adrien is being forced to have a ball to find his true love. It's a basic Cinderella story with everyone's favorite heroes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this awhile ago and originally posted it on tumblr [@alyawifi](alyawifi.tumblr.com) but now that I have an ao3 I cleaned it up just a little bit and decided to post it here! enjoy!

Marinette sighed, the bakery these days just didn’t have the life it used to. Ever since her stepmom had to take it over at her father’s death it was miserable and only a source of money. Her stepmom had now forced her to do all the cooking, cleaning, and serving, both in the house and the bakery. She had to listen to every wish and whim of her stepfamily while also running the bakery. But she did not get a single penny for her hard work.

Her stepsisters came running into the house cheering with her stepmom close behind them telling them to calm themselves.

“Dears, dears, please we will have your dresses made professionally and you will surely be the center of attention at the ball.”

“The ball?” Marinette asked putting down the rag she had been using to clean the floor.

Chloe, the worse of her two stepsisters, started, “That’s none of your business.”

Sabrina, her other stepsister, continued, “Yes because you would never be allowed to come!”

“Marinette is too much of a simple, silly girl to go to a ball.”

“Yeah the invitation says all girls, but she wouldn’t be allowed in with her plainness.”

Chloe turned sharply to her sister, “Shut up, don’t tell her every girl was invited.”

Marinette’s stepmom interrupted the two, “Even if every girl in town was invited, she is not because she has plenty of work to get done and nothing to wear. I surely will not be buying her a dress. Anyway is dinner done? I told you to have it done by the time we got home.”

Marinette stood up from where she sat and answered, “Oh yes, it is on the table already.”

The three ladies went to go and eat while Marinette frowned as they left. If every girl was invited why could she not go? She picked up her rag frustrated and went to her room deciding that she would figure out a way to go anyway.

 

Adrien looked at his father, “Do we really need to have this ball? We can wait longer can’t we?”

“No, we need to make sure we are able to find a suitable girl for the future of the kingdom.”

“But is this really the right way? Any girl coming to this ball will only see me as a prince that she can inherit money from if she marries.”

“Then come up with a way for that not to happen. Either way we are having a ball and that is final.”

Prince Adrien was escorted out by his father’s assistant Natalie. His squire waited outside the doors. His squire, Nino, was one of the only people he felt comfortable talking to. There weren’t many people in the castle that were Adrien’s age, and most were very formal with him. Nino had become Adrien’s only real friend.

“How’d it go?” Nino asked.

“Awfully. The ball is happening, I cannot seem to change my father’s mind on that one.”

“Well you still have a few days to prepare, you’ll figure it out.”

“I’ll try to.”

Adrien had figured it out, a masquerade! He would not have to tell anyone who he was and he could keep himself safe before he found the girl.   
He passed the message on to Nino who told Natalie who told his dad and it was made official. The new announcement was sent out not long after.

 

It was the day before the ball now and the prince himself had not figured out what he was going to wear. It couldn’t be anything extremely royal or else he would be found out immediately. He wanted to have something that he could relax and be himself in anyway.

He headed to the royal dresser’s room to discuss it with him. He knocked while opening the door and caught Plagg eating an entire plate of cheese.

He was as close to Plagg as he was to Nino since his only friends were those who worked for the royal family . Plagg though had an interesting obsession with cheese that Adrien just couldn’t understand.

“Plagg, again really?”

“You indulge my problem sometimes yourself, so I don’t want to hear your complaining. What do you need from me anyway?”

“I don’t know what to wear tomorrow for the ball. I don’t want any of the royal white uniforms or anything because then everyone will know who I am.”

“Something simple then?”

“Yes.”

Plagg looked Adrien up and down and nodded, “Ok this shouldn’t be too hard.”

The two sat down together and set to work.

 

Marinette smiled as she finished all her chores for the day. Her stepfamily couldn’t complain about her going to the ball when she had done everything she needed to. She ran up to her room still gleeful. She had been working on her own dress for the ball using whatever fabric she could find and had finished it just last night. Making it was a pain in the butt since she could not have all the fabric that she wanted, but it was her own.

She put it on and ran downstairs to join her stepfamily, who had gotten all dressed up. Chloe had a yellow fluffy mess and Sabrina had gone with something simpler, Marinette assumed she did this so she wouldn’t stand in Chloe’s own spotlight.

Upon seeing Marinette, Chloe gasped, “What are you wearing? That dress is awful.”

Marinette frowned and started to defend herself, but was quickly cut off by Sabrina, “You can’t wear that to the ball!”

Chloe grabbed a sleeve and ripped it off with a hard pull.

“Cheap material too.”  
Sabrina laughed and pulled at the dress too. Their mother did not do anything about them as they attacked Marinette and her dress. Only after they had completely ruined it did she speak up.

“Well you most definitely cannot go to the ball like that. And now there is a mess on the floor. You will have to clean that up too.”

With the two stepsisters laughing, the family left Marinette behind, her eyes starting to fill with tears.

“They’re awful! Just awful!” Marinette cried out loud.

She cleaned up the scraps that had been torn off and went into the kitchen to throw them out. In the kitchen though was a lady sitting on the counter and eating the cookies that Marinette had just made that day.

“Who are you?” Marinette yelled surprised.

“I’m Tikki. Your stepfamily is kinda mean to you aren’t they?”

“Yes, but why are you here? Who is Tikki exactly?”

“Oh! Sorry! I’m your fairy godmother! You should be able to go to the ball like everyone else right? You want to too don’t you?”

“My fairy godmother? I mean yes I want to go to the ball, but how? I can’t go like this!”

“That’s what I’m here for silly. You say the word and I make you ball-ready!”

“Uh.. um ok! I want to go to the ball please help me, Tikki!”

“You got it!”

Marinette was lifted into the air and sparkles spun all around her. Tikki dressed her in a voluminous, red, sleeveless dress with a sweetheart bust. It was black on the bodice and it scattered into black dots down the back and sides of the scarlet chiffon skirts. She reached out her arms and on them were now black gloves. Tikki’s transformation did not end there. Her hair was put in an up-do with red pins and her face covered by a red mask that also had black spots.

“This… this is beautiful,” Marinette gasped.

“Hmm I’m missing something though,” Tikki thought out loud with a hand on her chin.

Tikki’s face lit up, “Aha!” and with a flick of her wrist, Marinette received earring and a necklace, both matching the theme.

“Alright, now that we have you all ready for the ball, there is an important note. It will only last until midnight.”

“Really? Why is that?”

“Magic isn’t a perfect practice, silly! Now, you can’t go to the ball saying your name to everyone, so what are you going to tell everyone?”

“Uh I don’t know.”

“That’s ok because I already had one. You’re now Ladybug.”

Marinette smiled and nodded, “Ok!”

“Now, let’s get you to the ball. Your carriage awaits you outside. Don’t forget be back before midnight! That transformation won’t last forever!”

“Thank you so much, Tikki, I’ll be back before midnight, I promise!”

Marinette ran outside going to the carriage that Tikki had set up.

 

Adrien could only dream of when the night would be over. He had danced with a lot of girls and all of them spoke of finding the prince and all their fantasies of marrying him. There was not one that he found he liked. Some were worse than other, like the girl in the large yellow dress who spoke only of his money, though she like everyone else had no idea that she was dancing with the prince.

He was now sitting hoping to take a break from dancing and was able to hide from everyone well. He looked down at the outfit Plagg had come up with. It was a totally black suit with black boots and a black mask. Though for the most part simple, Plagg had thrown on a yellow bell on his black bow tie and insisted that Adrien wear black ears too. Adrien only agreed to throw people off his tail (something Plagg also wanted, but Adrien said was too much). He had been going by Chat Noir for the night.

Adrien got up stretching deciding that he would grab a bite to eat as he waited for the night to pass. As he headed toward the food, he noticed that people’s attention was directed toward the entrance.

His jaw definitely dropped as he saw the most beautiful girl walk in. The prince was now determined to find out who she was, his goal of heading to get food now totally forgotten. Before any other guy could reach her, he made his way to her.

“My Lady, may I have this dance?”

The girl was surprised to be asked to dance so quickly, but she nodded and took the hand he was holding out to her.

The two began dancing together with Adrien leading and Marinette following as well as she could. She had never been to such a ball and had never known how to dance like a lady, so keeping up with this guy was the best she could do.

“You are quite light on your feet, My Lady.”

“And you are pretty skilled, sir. What is your name may I ask?”

He chuckled some and responded, “This is a masquerade! You aren’t supposed to know who I am.”

“Well then what can I call you for now?”

“How about Chat Noir.”

“And you may call me Ladybug.” She responded with a smile.

He spun her and then pulled her close, “I’d purr-fer to stick with my lady.”

She blushed a little and made a face at the pun, but quickly recomposed, “Fine, so what’s with the ears? Are they just to match the name and puns?”

“Oh? Yeah, they are there to go along with the name. What about you? All the polka dots?”

“I think they’re pretty. They also happen to go along with the name.”

The song they were dancing to ended and he let her go, but decided to start to ask her for another dance. Before he could though, another guy came and asked for her, which she agreed to.

“My Lady, I feel betrayed.”

“Oh, please you alley cat, you’ll get another chance,” she threw over her shoulder heading off with the other man.

Adrien pouted watching her dance with another. He noticed her having more trouble matching the guy she was currently dancing with. He smirked thinking about how he and her danced perfectly together. He saw as she stepped on his foot and had to apologize, but the two continued to dance.

The prince rolled his eyes watching the two and headed over to get a glass of water for himself and decided to get one for his lady too. He heard the music fading and hurried back.

“My Lady! Would you like a glass of water?”

She smiled taking it, “Thank you. You were quick to get back over here.”

“Didn’t want to miss my chat-nce. May I have the next dance?”

She frowned some at the pun and responded, “Greedy cat, aren’t you? But sure.”

Ladybug drank the rest of her water and set her cup down on a nearby table. Chat didn’t even finish his water, but excitedly put his cup down and took her hand pulling her out to the dance floor. Chat Noir didn’t just get the next dance, but was able to continue dancing with her for the next four dances.

At the end of the fourth, out of breath Ladybug asked, “May we go sit or just stand and talk if you are so insistent on staying with me?”

“Of course, My Lady! We can even get some night air. There is a balcony we can go out on o-fur there.”

She followed him already deciding to just ignore his puns and she welcomed the cool air that hit her as soon as the two were out on the balcony.

“It’s a beautiful night.”

“And it’s been a great night since you’ve came,” he added to her statement.

She looked over at him and he was smiling sweetly, “I’ve had a lot of fun too. More than ever.”

Chat went closer to her taking her hand, “The most fun I’ve ever had.”

“Oh please, this can’t be your first ball.”

“No, but it has been the only one I’ve enjoyed. The rest have been more of a chore.”

She tilted her head, “I can’t believe that. They’re so… lively.”

“Is this your first ball, My Lady?” He now asked.

“Oh, yes actually. I had originally made my own dress, but it wasn’t very good.”

“I’m sure hands as beautiful as yours could only make something just as pretty. What happened to your other dress?”

“My family did not wish for me to come to the ball, and ruined it.”

Chat gasped, “No! That is horrible. Where did you get this dress then in such short notice?”

“I had a little help, but it is nothing.”

“If you say so. Would you like to ex-paw-lore the castle more? I’m sure no one would notice us sneaking around.”

“You are quite an alley cat, aren’t you? Lead the way,” she said, honestly feeling the adrenaline of the night still rushing through her.

The two went down from the balcony and he began showing her the gardens. The two looked at all the flowers that were blooming and Chat kept holding her hand while they walked along. Ladybug had no problems with it even if he was such a flirt.

As they walked, neither said much about their personal lives, partially not wanting to go into the pains of their lives and partially not wanting to reveal themselves. They joked lightly and spoke of things they liked and how neither of them found time to do what they wanted half the time.

“It’s getting pretty late, we should probably go back inside for the rest of the evening,” Chat said as the stood in the rose garden.

Before Ladybug could say anything in response, he continued, “But before then, may I have a kiss, My Lady?”

He took her hand and picked a rose from the garden holding it out to her. She blushed immensely, but nodded in response to his question. He wrapped his hand that was holding the rose around her waist and kept the hand with hers down by their sides. He pulled her closer and leaned in. She put her free hand on the back of his neck and closed the space between their lips, kissing him.

It wasn’t long before she pulled away though. He looked at her surprised it ended so quickly.

“I have to go,” She said quickly and sadly.

“But, My Lady –,” He started as she pulled away running toward the front gates.

He began to run after her once the shock had worn off. He was unable to catch up to her though as the guards stopped him from running after her. She had slipped beyond the gates and as the prince he was unable to keep going to find her.

“Sir! You cannot possibly leave the grounds during your own ball!” The guard who stopped him said.

Adrien nodded, he had already known that, but he would have thrown it all away to go after her. If only the guards hadn’t been informed of his outfit, he may have been able to catch her.

Something shiny on the ground caught his eye though. He leaned down and picked it up. He immediately recognized it as one of his lady’s earrings. This would be the key to find her, he thought as he stared off into the night. He was determined to find her. She was the only one for him.

 

Marinette reached her house already totally back in her plain, ripped dress. She went inside and cleaned up the house a little more, knowing she had some time before the ball was actually over. She changed into a different plain dress and realized that she still had one earring from her transformation.

“But why did only one of the earrings stay?” She questioned aloud to herself.

She frowned unsure, but put the one in a small box and stuck it under her pillow deciding that her fairy godmother must have allowed the magic to keep the earring. The stepfamily came home late and immediately demanded that baths are prepared for them and that tomorrow morning there is to be a big breakfast. Marinette sighed, knowing that her life was back to being a simple as before and she was stuck once more.

Marinette and her stepfamily went into the town the next day; Marinette was brought along simply to carry things. The royal herald came into town while they were there and quickly gathered everyone’s attention.

“Hello, hello, everyone! I’m Alya, the royal herald. You all ought to prepare yourselves for the Prince will be coming around town soon, he found his true love at the ball last night and desperately wants to find her. A true love story! He knows how to tell who she is, but he does not know who she is. So he will be coming to see every girl of the town to find her! Make sure your homes are presentable for when he comes!”

Chloe was the first to speak up to her mother, “We must prepare ourselves! I say we send Marinette home in order for her to clean the entire house again!”

Sabrina nodded in agreement and their mother looked at Marinette, “Well off with you, I don’t want a single unclean spot!”

Marinette sighed and began heading home, but ran into the royal herald.

“Oh I’m sorry!”

Alya smiled, “Quite alright, I’m just excited there’s such a story. Prince Adrien wouldn’t stop talking about the mystery girl!”

“Wow, I can’t imagine having the prince’s affections. She must be very lucky. How will he know who she is?”

“I don’t know he refuses to tell us. Doesn’t want it to slip out and then have girls trying to fake being his true love.”

Marinette giggled at the girl’s exaggerated speech and answered, “Well that does make sense. Sorry again for bumping into you! Have a good day!”

Marinette ran off to go take care of cleaning the entire house.

 

“And she was so-,” Adrien was cut off by Nino who continued his friend’s speech in a mocking tone, “She was so funny and was beautiful, just gorgeous and I need to find her. She’s the only one, she was perfect!”

“Ha ha, very funny, Nino,” Adrien faked a frown.

“You haven’t stopped talking about her to even take a breath!” Nino laughed.

Adrien rolled his eyes as Nino began again, “I’m just glad the announcement is going out and we can take care of this search. Can we go get started?”

“Yes, yes, yes, let us go,” Adrien answered faux annoyed with his friend.

 

Both Adrien and Nino were completely worn out. They had been to so many houses, seen so many girls, dealt with a lot of girls crying, and still no luck. Adrien was getting frustrated that he couldn’t find the one girl he so desperately fell for. Had she even been real? Adrien sighed as Nino knocked on the next house’s door.

Inside they heard a yell and a girl opened the door only to quickly shut it on their faces as she yelled back into the house, “It’s the prince! It’s the prince!!”

“And you just shut the door on his face?!” Another shrill voice yelled back.

Nino looked at Adrien very unsure and Adrien shrugged, figuring that this house was also just going to be a disappointment. A girl opened the door, but she was quickly pushed out of the way by another.

“Hello! Welcome to our house!” The blond girl smiled brightly at them, but neither of them sensed that she was genuinely kind.

Nino started, “Hello, Prince Adrien is here to look for the girl he danced the night away with at the ball.”

Chloe gasped, “I had no idea the guy I danced the entire night with was the prince.”

“Oh?” Adrien tilted his head in disbelief.

“Of course! I should have known, only the prince could be as handsome as the man I danced with at the ball. So graceful too.”

“And what was he wearing?” Nino spoke up.

Chloe stuttered, but was pulled back by her mother who avoided the question, “Why are you all outside! Come in, come in!”

Adrien followed Nino in still not believing Chloe. Chloe’s mother whispered something to her as the group all sat down.

“He was in an all black suit with cat ears. He told me himself it was to make sure his identity wasn’t found out,” Chloe finally responded.

Sabrina spoke up, “Yes, I wanted to dance with him too, but I could tell he and my sister were so in love already.”

“Then you have the matching earring?” Adrien asked pulling out the one his lady had lost.

Chloe’s eyes got wide, but she responded with fake confidence, “Of- Of course! It is in my room. I will go get it.”

She got up and went to her room, only to come back down fairly quickly. She held out a plain red bead, which she had just stolen off one of her necklaces.

Nino lifted an eyebrow, “Yeah, that does not match. Sorrry.”

“Oh, I grabbed the wrong one! My sister must have taken it! Sabrina! Go get it!”

Sabrina stuttered, but ran out without a word.

 

Sabrina ran into Marinette, who was still mad for Chloe pushing her.

“Marinette! Do you have an earring?”

“You have plenty and you know that your mother wouldn’t buy me any.”

“But! I don’t have the one the prince is looking for like Chloe said I do!”

“… The one the prince is looking for?”

“Yeah! He said that the girl he danced with had that earring and Chloe said it was her, but she only knew about his outfit being a black suit because of rumors that had spread through town and now I don’t have anything to help to fabricate the lie!” Sabrina rabbled out nervously.

“Black suit? The prince was in a black suit?” Marinette asked in a slight panic herself.

“Yes! I said that already, what do I do?”

Marinette’s eyes widened and she pushed past Sabrina into the sitting room.

“What are you doing in here?” Her stepmother yelled at her at her entrance.

But Marinette was focused on the prince, “Alley cat?”

Adrien shot up seeing her and hearing her call, “My Lady?”

Nino flopped back into his seat, “Finally!”

Adrien paused, “Do you have the earring?”

“Yes! It’s upstairs! I’ll be right back!”

She ran upstairs and quickly came back with the box. She opened the box in front of him and they were all confronted with the truth. Adrien and Marinette’s eyes met and he pulled her close into a hug before giving her a quick kiss.

“No! No! No!” Chloe shouted jumping up from her chair and Nino just glared at her to get her to silence herself.

“Never leave me, My Lady?” He asked.

She nodded, “I don’t think you’d let me, Kitty Cat.”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by [@littleblackchat](http://littleblackchat.tumblr.com/)'s drawing and I had their permission to write and post this~ [Here's the art!](http://littleblackchat.tumblr.com/post/133926438916/omg-done-cinderella-ladybug-au-i-guess-instead-of) Thanks for reading!


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